History of Olympics
Level 1 Research Packet

TIMELINE

Date Place Event
776CE Athens Greece First evidence of the Olympic games Held in Olympia Only one event: men’s 200m sprint
490 BCE Greece The first marathon.
424 BCE Greece Decline There were too many young men that had to fight the Spartans So there were less athletes able to compete in the games. So they began to fall into decline.
394 CE Roman Empire The Roman emperor Theodosius banned the Olympics claiming it was a Pagan event
1612 Cotswold UK Robert Dover founded the Cotswold Olympick games.
1766 Greece Ancient Olympia site discovered by by Englishman Richard Chandler
1890 Shropshire UK A German-funded team of archeologist excavated the site of ancient Olympia.
1894 France Baron Coubertin founded The IOC (International Olympic Committee) and suggested that the Olympics be re- established as an event that is hosted by a different country every four years.
1896 Athens Greece First Modern Olympic Games
1900 Paris, France Women competed for the first time.
1904 St Louis, USA Gold, silver and bronze medals were introduced.
1908 London, UK Olympics took place in a stadium built for Olympics. Figure skating was introduced as an Olympic sport.
1912 Sweden Athletes from all 5 continents compete in the Olympics. Electric timing devices used for the first time. Pentathlon and Decathlon introduced for the first time.
1914 - Coubertin designed the Olympic symbol interlocking rings
1916 - Canceled because of World War One
1920 Belgium Doves first released
1924 France First winter Olympics
1928 Netherlands First Olympic flame lit
1932 USA First use of a finish camera
1936 Germany First televised Olympics
1940 - Cancelled because of World War Two
1944 -